Megalosaurus

Megalosaurus bucklandi

Pronounced: Meg - ah -lo - Saw - rus

Diet: Carnivore (Meat-Eater)

Name Means: "big lizard"

Length: 30 feet (9 m)

Height: 10 feet (3 m)

Weight: 1.5 (1,300 kilos)

Time: Jurassic

Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in Eurasia, South America

Here it is, the very first dinosaur ever named. Megalosaurus was found in England in the year 1822 by a geologist named William Buckland. He found the teeth and knew it was from a really big animal. The word 'dinosaur' did not yet exist. In fact, this dinosaur was a typical two legged meat-eater, but people back then knew so little about it that they thought it walked on four legs like a big lizard. It wasn't until 20 years later, in 1842, that Sir Richard Owen came up with the word 'dinosaur' to describe these spectacular fossil creatures which were being discovered.

Since so little of Megalosaurus was originally discovered, it was depicted as a large, quadrupedal lizard with a head like a crocodile. This image of the first dinosaurs lasted some years until more complete specimens were discovered.

Megalosaurus was a common carnivore of the Jurassic - species of this genus have been found on several continents. As common as it was, it exhibits only a few of the technical characteristics associated with other Therapods.